The present invention relates to an ergonomic armrest and joystick support for operators of heavy machinery.
It is well known that many operators of heavy machinery such as forestry machines suffer from neck, shoulder and back pains. This is mainly due to the operator being obliged to keep his arms raised above the machine""armrests while operating the machine in order to effect long lever strokes or activate awkwardly placed manually-operable controls which require the operator to lift and possibly maintain his arms above the armrests. Short joysticks or other types of manual controls used to control the various machine movements together with a support for the manual controls and for an associated armrest have been in use for sometime, but these known assemblies are difficult to adjust in the right position to suit a specific operator and often come out of adjustment when subjected to heavy shocks such as when the machine travels in roadless rough terrain, e.g. in a forest.
It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide an ergonomic armrest and manual controls support which obviates the above noted disadvantages in that it enables the operator to first adjust the position of his manual controls in space along X,Y,Z axes with respect to his seat and backrest so that his hand and arm are in a comfortable position with respect to the manual controls, and then to adjust the position of the armrest while the operator""hand is in position over the manual controls.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a support of the kind described, which is relatively simple and inexpensive but yet of sturdy construction being capable of resisting heavy shocks without becoming maladjusted.
The assembly of the present invention comprises a bracket to be secured to a stationary member at the back and on the side of an operator""seat and above said seat, a generally horizontally disposed bar forwardly extending from said bracket and having a rear and a front end, a first connector assembly connecting the rear end of said bar to said bracket, a manual controls support located forwardly of said front end, a second connector assembly connecting said manual controls support to the front end of said bar, said first and second connector assemblies capable of adjustably positioning said manual controls support relative to said bracket along X,Y,Z axes, an armrest located above said bar intermediate its front and rear ends and a third connector assembly connecting the underside of said armrest to said bar and capable of adjustably positioning said armrest above said bar to a selected height and inclination and to a selected distance from said bracket.
Preferably, the manual controls support is further stabilized by a post secured to the front of the seat and upstanding from one side thereof. Preferably, the post is made of at least two telescopic sections and a lock releasably locks said two telescopic sections in adjusted telescoped position.
Preferably, said post releasably supports said manual controls support in its adjusted position, said first connector assembly releasably allowing upward pivoting of said bar of said manual controls support and of said armrest in out of the way position to permit the operator""ingress to or egress from the side of said seat.
Preferably, said bar has a uniform non circular cross-sectional shape along its length and said third connector assembly includes a sleeve slidably surrounding said bar but not rotatable around the same, and a knob operated locking bolt carried by said sleeve to releasably engage said bar and lock said sleeve at an adjusted position along said bar.
Preferably, the first connector assembly includes a link having one end pivoted to said bracket about a generally horizontal axis, a second sleeve slidably but not rotatably receiving said rear end of said bar, a first universal joint connecting said second sleeve to the other end of said link and manually operated locks carried by said bracket and by said second sleeve to lock the rear end of said bar in adjusted height and distance relative to and forwardly of said bracket.
Preferably, said second connector assembly includes a second universal joint and manually operated locks to lock said manual controls support in a selected inclination longitudinally and transversely of said bar.
Preferably, said third connector assembly includes a pair of longitudinally slotted elongated plates secured to and depending from the underside of said armrest and straddling opposite sides of said sleeve, a block secured to said sleeve and disposed between and in register with said elongated plates, a knob, and a bolt extending through said block and through said plate slots and screwed into said knob for pressing said elongated plates against said sleeve on opposite sides thereof and lock said armrest into a selected height and inclination.